I weep for who I thought we were
born to love and make beautiful babies
dependent upon ourselves and neighbors
accountable for our actions, success and failures. 

I weep for who I think we are
Prozac reality and stressed for success mentality
accelerated conditioning as we look away
from the homeless, hungry and lost.

The working poor
who need more,
want more and accept their lot
while programed compulsion for fads
end up in long term storage then tossed to the curb to rot. 

The murdered with a count of one or two
rarely make the news.
The fear of others grows unchecked
while profits are skimmed away from the rest.
Innocent children are discarded
in favor of patriotic fervor for perpetual war.

Civil discourse has died
replaced by alternate facts that change with tides.
Intellectual pursuit demonized
while dumbing down of our nation for control is the norm.

I don’t have the answers
I do think we received what we have earned.
And so to celebrate the Fourth of July
we should just watch the fireworks
and pretend everything is going to be just fine.